@dave68 what size are you useing now? how many buckets are you planing on useing? is it going to be rdwc or just dwc? also how much water in each bucket? anything more the 2 5gal buckets u need like 200 cma or larger. I use a 700 cma in my current system. normally u want enough air flow to cause the roots to move around in buckets. Also it’s time to flush it again u need to change water every 3-4 days till roots get better!
I am not sure what cma is. I have a 250 gallon per hour air pump for two 3.5 gallon buckets with about 2.5 gallons of water in each. This pump is quite loud because I have my grow tent in my living room.
1 Like
Yes that I was stoned when I was typing like I am now lol but 250 gal per hr will work
Well, my last one died right after I changed the water. I guess DWC is not going to work for me. I thought it was supposed to be much easier but it is not. I will either stop growing or go back to using soil, which I didn’t have very much luck with before.
1 Like
@dave68 it isn’t easier it’s less messy but you need a few basic knowledge and you need to understand the rolls of ph ppm and water temp and what it does for the plant it’s a lot upfront price wise to get it going good I have like 175 in basic equipment then like 800 to make it auto mode so it’s expensive upfront and you lose the buffer that soil gives so don’t throw in the towel just uet do 1 bucket till you get a descent grow from it use some bag seeds so you don’t waste the good seeds you paid good money for and do the research before you try anything new
1 Like
800 is way out of my price range.
But I would like to know a good set-up for a 2x4 foot tent. Right now I can’t even afford seeds. I am hoping to get some seeds in the next few weeks.
1 Like
You can build a decent light for a 2x4 for $250
1 Like
I have 3 1000 watt LED lights that I use. They are pulling about 450 watts from the wall. My big problem was root rot. I wasn’t changing my water and did not run my air stone anywhere near enough.
2 Likes
@dave68 Again air stone never turns off in hydro. And price you can get a water pump for like 25-30 bucks on amazon or eBay buckets you have all u will need is black tubing for air if doing a single grow and a single control so 2 buckets total u will need 2 3/4 in rubber grommets 1 1/2in rubber grommet some 3/4” black tubeing and some 1/2” black tubing 2 3/4” straight insert for the tubing to connect the tubeing into the grommets so here are instructions on how to build
1 drill a hole in lower side of bucket as close to bottom as you can get for the 3/4” grommets to fit into that is in both buckets
2 drill a hole at top of both buckets for the 1/2” return line use the grommet on the plant bucket no need to use one in the control bucket
3 drill a small hole in top of both buckets for the air lines to go threw
4 put the submersible Recirculating pump in the control bucket hook up the 1/2” tub to exit port on pump it will be the top hole
5 run 1/2” black tube to the plant bucket threw the 1/2” grommet
6 fill with water turn on whole system air stone and water pump let run 24 hrs ck for leaks no leaks your rdwc is set and rdy to use
That’s it and the system should cost maybe 100-150 bucks total one thing I do recommend to keep energy consumption down is a click timer for the water pump so in a system this size you would need the water pump to turn on 2 times a day 1 every 12hr to recirculate the water and that is it I hope this gets you to where u want to be if u want to grow more plants just add buckets to system also bucket size min is 5 gallon. I also recommend you get 1 1/2” tee with 2 1/2” shut off valves one valve will go after the tee on return line other shut off will be on the tee line as a drain line so you can drain system easier that is a game changer you won’t mind changing water if you do the 1 tee and 2 shut offs very easy adds mabe 10-15 bucks to bill well worth it to make water changes easy and fast
2 Likes
@Haildamaged here’s the tag u asked for go up i have a long post of what to expect with a hydro grow and it gives you ppm temp and grow schedule also I put some stuff on what deficiencies look like and how to Diagnose
1 Like
thank you gona giv it a look
1 Like
The grow schedule is a long read but it is the best explain on what to expect it is awsome
1 Like
Well I want to thank everyone for the help. I have no pictures but have got some great plants since my last disaster. I’m still trying to get my buckets set up for easier water changes but the ppm and ph meter make a big difference. Thank you bigdaddycain for the lengthy post with all the info, it helped tremendously!!